Facts about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Sir William Ramsay, regarded as one of the greatest
archaeologists ever, investigated the writings of Luke in an
apparent effort to undermine the Gospel writer's credentials as a
historian, and to discredit the entire New Testament. After 30 years
of study, however, Ramsay concluded, "Luke is a historian of the
first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy... this
author should be placed along with the very greatest of
historians."
Gospel writers' accounts of Jesus' burial and resurrection
Matthew 27:59 - 28:3
Mark 15:44 - 16:4
John 19:40 - 20:8
Luke 23:50 - 24:12 Now there was a good and righteous man named
Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, 51 but he had not agreed
with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the
town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to
come. 52 He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took the body
down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a
new tomb that had been carved out of rock. 54 This was done late on Friday
afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the
tomb where his body was placed. 56 Then they went home and prepared
spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the
Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.
1 But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the
spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away
from the entrance. 3 So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord
Jesus. 4 As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them,
clothed in dazzling robes.
5 The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the
men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6
He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in
Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men
and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”
8 Then they remembered that he had said this. 9 So they rushed back from the
tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. 10 It
was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other
women who told the apostles what had happened. 11 But the story sounded
like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. 12 However, Peter jumped up
and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen
wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.
Consider the strength of the evidence
1. The large stone was moved, in spite of the Roman
guards and seal
Jesus' tomb was secured in three ways:
(a) A large stone was rolled against it. It was customary to roll big
stones against tombs; the stones were generally too big to be
moved by just a few men, so levers were used to move them.
Some have estimated that the stone that sealed Jesus' tomb
weighed 1-1/2 to 2 two tons… 4000 pounds, which is the
approximate weight of a car.
(b) A Roman guard unit--which usually consisted of four soldiers-was stationed at the tomb. Roman guards were strictly disciplined
fighting men held to the highest standards. Failure often required
death by torturous and humiliating methods.
(c) The Roman seal was affixed to the stone that secured the
tomb. The seal stood for the power and authority of the Roman
Empire. Breaking the seal meant automatic execution by
crucifixion upside down.
Anyone trying to move the stone from the tomb's entrance would
have broken the seal and thus incurred the wrath of Roman law.1
On resurrection Sunday morning, the first thing that impressed the
people who approached the tomb was that the large stone was
moved. Certainly the entire guard unit would not have fallen
asleep with torture and death as the consequences. But even if
the guards did fall asleep, how could thieves have sneaked by
the guards and moved the massive stone without waking them
up?
2. The tomb was empty
Jesus' tomb was near Jerusalem (John 19:42). Had the tomb not
been empty, claims of the resurrection, which were first made in
Jerusalem, could not have been maintained for even one hour-people in Jerusalem could – and most certainly did - go to the
tomb to check for themselves.
Both Jewish and Roman sources and admit an empty tomb. Those
resources range from Josephus to a compilation of fifth-century
Jewish writings called the "Toledoth jeshu."
3. Jesus' burial wrappings were in the tomb
The linen wrappings in the tomb amazed the disciples. Jesus had
simply moved through the wrappings, without a struggle, and laid
the face cloth aside. Had Jesus' body been stolen, the thieves
would not have taken the time to remove the wrappings or fold
the face cloth.
4. There were many witnesses to Jesus' appearances
In studying an event in history, it is important to know how many
participants or eyewitnesses were still alive when reports about the
event were published.
If the number was substantial, the event can be regarded as fairly
well established, because the eyewitnesses could have refuted
an inaccurate report. For instance, if several people witness a
murder, and the police report about it contains numerous lies, the
eyewitnesses can refute it.
The apostle Paul wrote that Christ had been seen by more than
500 people at one time. What's more, most of the 500 were still
alive when Paul was proclaiming the resurrection, so skeptics
could simply question the eyewitnesses:
1 Cor 15:3-6: I passed on to you what was most important and
what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just
as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from
the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was
seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen
by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are
still alive, though some have died.
5. New Testament accounts were circulated among
people who were alive at the time of the resurrection
Archaeological discoveries have confirmed that New Testament
accounts of the resurrection were written within the lifetimes of
people who were alive at the time of the resurrection. Those
people could certainly have denied the accuracy of the Gospel
writers' accounts.
6. The followers of Christ were persecuted and killed for
proclaiming the resurrection
Jesus' disciples fled when Jesus was arrested and taken away for
trial prior to being crucified. They were apparently afraid that they
would be imprisoned or killed for of their association with Jesus.
Peter even denied that he knew Jesus.
After Jesus was crucified and buried, they remained in hiding,
afraid and depressed, until Mary and others came to tell them
that Jesus had risen from the dead. Why would these men, who
had displayed such cowardice, risk their lives in going from city to
city proclaiming the resurrection, if they did not truly know that
Jesus had risen from the dead? They certainly gained nothing for
doing so. The disciples did not receive wealth or prestige for
preaching the resurrection; there were no material benefits
whatsoever. In fact, they were beaten, stoned to death, thrown
to lions, tortured, and crucified for their preaching.
Consider the weakness of theories given to deny the
resurrection
1. Maybe the women who reported the missing body
had mistakenly gone to the wrong tomb
This would mean that the disciples also went to wrong tomb.
Also, the Jewish authorities and the Roman guards were not
mistaken about the location of the tomb. If the women and the
disciples had gone to the wrong tomb, the Jewish and Roman
authorities would have immediately produced the body of Jesus
from the proper tomb in order to stop the rumor of the
resurrection.
2. Maybe those who claimed to have seen the risen
Jesus were hallucinating
It's difficult to imagine that more than 500 people had the same
illusion or hallucination. Here again, the Jewish and Roman
authorities could have produced the body to squelch the rumor.
3. Maybe Jesus swooned
The swoon theory is that Jesus didn't die, but merely fainted from
exhaustion and loss of blood. Everyone thought He was dead.
When He later resuscitated, the disciples thought that He had
risen from the dead.3
It contradicts medical science to believe that Jesus could have
survived the crucifixion, let alone survived another two days in the
tomb, removed the large stone, overpowered the Roman guards,
and then convinced His followers that He had conquered death
and the grave.
4. Maybe Jesus' body was stolen
Who would have stolen the body?
As I mentioned, Jesus' disciples fled in fear when He was arrested
and taken away for trial prior to being crucified, and then they
stayed in hiding until hearing of the resurrection.
Why would these men, who had displayed such cowardice and
depression, risk their lives trying to overpower the Roman guards
and steal Jesus' body? And why would they have wanted to?
There was nothing for them to gain by stealing the body. They
were persecuted, tortured, and eventually killed for preaching the
resurrection, so there was no motive for them to fabricate a lie.
What's more, even if the disciples would have wanted to maintain
a conspiracy, they would not have been able.
Every conceivable method was used by Roman and Jewish
officials to stop them from talking.
Self-preservation would have eventually won over the disciples'
commitment to a conspiracy. If the resurrection were a
concocted hoax, the disciples would have testified against one
another before succumbing to beatings or the death penalty.
Think about America's Watergate: The Nixon administration, the
most powerful group of men in the world at the time, could not
maintain a conspiracy for even a few weeks. They buckled under
pressure and chose self-preservation over maintaining a lie to
save their leader.
In addition, the Romans didn’t believe that the disciples stole
Jesus' body--had the officials believed it, they would have killed
them for breaking the Roman seal.
Theft of Jesus' body by Jewish or Roman authorities doesn't make
sense either. If the authorities had the body in their possession or
knew where it was, they could have produced the body of Jesus
and put an end to Christianity. But they didn't… they couldn’t…
He had risen…
Consider what historians say
Several secular historians have performed exhaustive evaluations
of the facts surrounding the resurrection of Jesus Christ… and
concluded that there is no event of ancient history that is better
supported by historical evidence.